Broom.



v Patented Jan. 7, |902. W. H. OKEEFE.

BROM.

lApplcation ld Ont. 23 1900.`

No. 690,87l.

(No Model.)

lVE N T 0R Altom'ey UNITED STATES PATENTLOFIJQE,

WILLIAM I-I. OKEEFE, OF LOCKPORT, NEW YORK.

BRV.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 690,871, dated January '7, 1902,. Application filed October 23, 1900. Serial No. 34,049. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM H. OKEEFE, a resident of Lockport, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brooms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to au improved broom, and more particularly to a bridle for brooms, the object of the invention being to provide a broom having its broom corn or brush arranged iu concaVo-convex formation.

A further object is to provide a bridle for a broom which will not only strengthen and support the broom corn or brush, but which will hold the same in concavo-convex formation to tend to draw the sweepings toward the center of the broom when the concave side thereof is presented to the sweepings and not scatter the same and raise a great amount of dust, as is the case with brooms of ordinary construction now on the market.

A further object is to provide an improved bridle which can be readily placed in position on a broom, reversed'thereon, or removed entirely and placed on another broom.

With these objects in View the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, as will be more fully hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective View illustrating my improved bridle in position on a broom. Fig. 2 is a View in horizontal section of the same, and Fig. 3 is a view of the bridle removed.

1 represents a broom of ordinary construction, and 2 my improved bridle secured thereon. The bridle 2is located, preferably, about the top of the loose broom corn or brush, or, in other words, just below the lowest binding of the broom, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The bridle comprises a strip of preferably spring metal, bent at two points between its ends, as shown at 3, forming the rear curved member a. and the curved ends b, which latter overlap each other at their ends and are provided with alined holes for the passage of a threaded bolt 4. The bolt 4t is mounted in a hole in the rear member' ci, and made with a head at its rear end to hold it in the rear member is passed through the broom and the alined holes in the ends b, and a thumb-nut 5 is mounted on the forward end of the bolt and adapted to force the front end s of the bridle toward the rear member and clamp the broom-corn between them, and said front and rear portions of the bridle are disposed parallel and curved in the arc of a circle when in position on the broom, thus holding the broom corn or brush in concavo-convex formation, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

When my improved bridle is in position on a broom, the latter will, owing to the concaved formation of the side presented to the sweepings, tend to draw the sweepings to the center of the broom and not scatter them, as is the case with brooms of ordinary construction, and will also greatly strengthen the broom and lengthen its life. When the broom is worn out, the bridle can be readily removed therefrom an'd placed in position on another broom, or the bridle can be reversed on a broom, so as to wear the broom-corn evenly.-

Various slight changes might be resorted to in the general form and arrangement of the several parts described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I would have it understood that I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details set forth, but consider myself at liberty to make such slight changes and alterations as fairly fall Within the spirit and Scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A bridle for a broom comprising a strip of metal bent at two points to form a curved rear member, a bolt connected to said rear member and passed through alined holes in the ends of the strip forming the front member, and a thumb-nut on said bolt adapted to clamp the bridle to a broom and dispose the ends parallel to the rear curved member.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM Il. OKEEFE.

Witnesses:

ROY H. ERNEST, ALICE E. MORGAN.

IOO 

